Group Flexible Retirement Plan Key features

Transcription

1 Group Flexible Retirement Plan Key features This is an important document. Please read it and keep it for future reference. Key features document: Pages 1 21 Terms and conditions for joining: Pages The Financial Conduct Authority is a financial services regulator. It requires us, Standard Life, to give you this important information to help you decide whether our Group Flexible Retirement Plan is right for you. You should read this document carefully so that you understand what you are buying and then keep it safe for future reference. Helping you decide This key features document will give you information on the main features, benefits and risks of the Group Flexible Retirement Plan. The illustration shows you the benefits you may get in the future. Your key features document and enclosed illustration should be read together. We will always be happy to answer any of your questions or give you more information but we can t give you financial advice. Our contact details can be found on page Its aims To offer you a way of saving for your retirement. To build up a sum of money in a tax efficient way. The new retirement income options available from age 55 (57 from 2028) introduced from 6 April 2015 are not available under this product. You can access these new options by transferring to another product that allows this. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 01/24

2 2. Your commitment To remain invested in the plan until you choose to take your benefits, and then use it to buy your pension. You cannot cash in this plan at any time, although you can transfer it to another pension provider or registered pension scheme at any time before you start taking a pension. To make at least one payment into your plan. To tell us if you stop being eligible to receive tax relief on your payments. To regularly review your plan, and the level of payments being made, to make sure you re on track to meet your retirement goals. 3. Risks This section is designed to tell you about the key product risks that you need to be aware of at different stages of the plan. At the start of the plan You may be automatically enrolled into this plan by your employer. If this happens your employer will let you know. Otherwise, you will be invited to join the plan by your employer. This plan may not be suitable for all employees, particularly where small amounts of pension savings might affect entitlement to means tested State benefits. If you want to cancel the plan please see Can I cancel? on page 15 for more information. If you re transferring benefits from another pension scheme, there is no guarantee that what you ll get back from the Group Flexible Retirement Plan will be higher, they may be worth less than you paid in. You may also be giving up certain rights in your other pension scheme that you ll not have with the Group Flexible Retirement Plan. You will need to take advice if you are thinking about transferring a pension worth more than 30,000 if it offers any form of income guarantee (for example, a final salary pension). This is to ensure that you understand how much money you could lose. Please check if this will apply to any pension you are thinking of transferring. Where applicable you can transfer the cash value of the retirement benefits you have built up in another pension. Transferring other pensions will not be right for everyone. You need to consider all the facts and decide if it is right for you. 02/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

3 Investment Your plan may invest in different types of investments, including investments based on stocks and shares, which carry different levels of risk. The value of your plan can go up or down, and may be worth less than you paid in. There are also risks involved in relying on the performance of investments with a single asset class, rather than spreading your investments over a variety of asset classes. If you are automatically enrolled into the plan and do not make an investment decision yourself, payments will be invested in the fund(s) or a lifestyle profile chosen by your employer. You will be advised which fund(s) or lifestyle profile has been chosen. Please review and consider if this is suitable for your needs. There are other investment risks you need to be aware of. These include: Some funds invest in overseas assets. This means that exchange rates and the political and economic situation in other countries can significantly affect the value of these funds. Your investment may be worth less than you paid in. You ll probably be one of many investors in each fund you re invested in. Sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, we may wait before we carry out your request to transfer or switch out of a fund. This is to maintain fairness between those remaining in and those leaving the fund. This delay could be for up to a month. But for some funds, the delay could be longer: It may be for up to six months if it s a fund that invests in property, because property and land can take longer to sell If our fund invests in an external fund, the delay could be longer if the rules of the external fund allow this If we have to delay a transfer or switch, we ll use the fund prices on the day the transaction takes place these prices could be very different from the prices on the day you made the request. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 03/24

4 Some of our funds invest in other funds that are managed by external fund managers. The availability of an external fund may be restricted at any time, and this is outside our control. Also, an external fund manager could suspend dealings in their fund or delay withdrawals from it, and again we have no control over this. For further information about the investments available on your Group Flexible Retirement Plan and the risks involved, please refer to the How to choose the right investment options for your pension guide. Transferring out There may be a cost deducted on transferring out of your plan depending if commission is taken. Please see How do I pay for advice or other charges? on page 10 to find out if this applies to your employer s scheme. Taking retirement benefits What you get back when you retire isn t guaranteed. Your pension may be lower than shown in your illustration. This could happen for a number of reasons, for example if: you stop paying into this pension plan, or take a payment break payments/transfers into the plan are lower than illustrated the performance of the fund(s) you have chosen is lower than illustrated the cost of buying an annuity when you retire is higher than illustrated, for example due to interest rates being lower and/ or people living longer tax rules and legislation change plan charges increase above those illustrated you buy your pension at a different age from the age used in your illustration any charges or fees are taken for financial advice. Other options may be available when you want to take benefits from this plan. Please speak to your financial adviser. 4.Questions and answers What is a Group Flexible Retirement Plan? A Group Flexible Retirement Plan is a pension plan which allows you to save in a tax efficient way and brings with it control, flexibility and choice. You may be able to transfer the cash value of the retirement benefits you have built up under a previous occupational pension scheme, Stakeholder pension plan, personal pension plan or pension policy into the plan. This is known as a transfer value. 04/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

5 How flexible is it? You can make single or regular payments, or a combination of both, at any time. You can change the amount of your regular payments at any time, subject to the minimum payment amount. Please see How much can be paid into my plan each year? (page 6). Employee regular payments must be paid by your employer via salary deduction. Changes to payments made by your employer, including employee regular payments paid via salary deduction, are subject to your employer s agreement. Your employer may restrict the timing and frequency of changes to payments they make on your behalf. Regular payments are usually monthly. We will also accept additional payments by direct credit, telegraphic transfer or cheque. Please see How much can be paid into my plan each year? (page 6). You can make transfer payments at any time, as long as they meet the Group Flexible Retirement Plan minimum payment levels. For transfers from other providers we will accept payment by direct credit, telegraphic transfer or cheque. You can stop paying or take a payment break, and restart later if your circumstances change. This will reduce your future pension. If you leave your current employer, you will remain invested in the plan. Any payments made by your employer will stop. If you want to continue to make payments, please contact us to discuss your options. You can transfer it to another pension plan (either with Standard Life or another provider) or registered pension scheme at any time before you start taking a pension. Am I eligible? You re normally eligible to join a Group Flexible Retirement Plan if you re resident in the UK. If you have relevant UK earnings (please see page 6) but you re not resident in the UK, then you re not eligible to join. The minimum age for joining the Group Flexible Retirement Plan is 16 and the maximum age is 74. The minimum transfer payment is 1,000. There is no minimum payment for transfers from other Standard Life contracts. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 05/24

6 Is this a Stakeholder pension? This is not a Stakeholder pension. The Government has set minimum standards that companies must meet for a Stakeholder pension. These are to do with payment levels, charges and terms and conditions. This plan is not a Stakeholder pension because our charges can be higher than the Government Stakeholder standards. If you have not been automatically enrolled into this plan by your employer, stakeholder pensions may meet your needs at least as well as this pension plan. Your adviser will be able to advise which pension plan is better for you. You can find more information on Standard Life s Stakeholder Pension in our Stakeholder Pension Plan Key Features Document. For a copy, ask your adviser or contact us. 4.1 How much can be paid into my plan each year? The minimum average regular payment is subject to individual pricing. The minimum total single payment for employees and employers is normally 1,000 gross. The minimum transfer value is 1,000. However, there is no minimum payment for transfers from other Standard Life contracts. If you re employed, both you and your employer can pay into your plan. Details of the minimum payment for your plan are available from your employer. In each tax year, if you are a relevant UK individual you can pay: up to 3,600 (including basic rate tax relief) regardless of your earnings, or up to 100% of your relevant UK earnings for that year (including basic rate tax relief). If payments exceed the annual allowance then a tax charge may apply (see page 9). These limits are set by HM Revenue & Customs and apply to the total payments made by you and any third party to all your pension arrangements. These limits do not apply to payments made by your employer or to transfer payments. A tax year runs from 6 April in one year to 5 April in the next year. For more on tax, please see What about tax? on page 15. You are a relevant UK individual if: you are resident in the UK for tax purposes, or you have relevant UK earnings, or 06/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

7 you were a UK resident sometime in the previous five tax years and when you joined, or you have, or your husband, wife or civil partner has, earnings from overseas Crown employment subject to UK tax. Please check the Am I eligible? section on page 5. Relevant UK earnings means: if you are employed, the income you receive from your employer in a tax year (including any bonuses, commission or benefits in kind that you receive), or if you are self employed, the income you receive in a tax year from carrying out your trade, profession or vocation, or from patent rights. This income must be taxable in the UK. If you already have a pension plan you may be able to transfer its value into this plan. There is no guarantee that doing so will increase your total pension. 4.2 Where are my payments invested? Standard Life offers a wide range of investment linked pension funds to choose from, including externally managed funds. We also offer a range of lifestyle profiles. An investment linked fund is made up of units : Your payments are used to buy units in the fund. The price of one unit in each fund depends on the value of the underlying investments. The value of your investment is based on the total number of units you have in each fund. If the unit prices rise or fall, so will the value of your investment. We invest 100% of each payment. You can switch your payments in and out of various funds to change the mix of investments. We may delay switching in some circumstances. You can only invest in 12 funds at any one time. For more information about our funds, please ask your financial adviser or refer to the guide How to choose the right investment options for your pension (GPEN4). Lifestyle profiles automatically change the funds you are invested in based on how long you ve got until your selected retirement date. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 07/24

8 As you get closer to retirement, the investment aims of the profile move away from growth and towards preparing your pension plan for your selected retirement date. From April 2015 you have more options about how you can take your retirement income. So you should make sure any lifestyle profile you choose matches your plans. It s also important to consider when you ll take your retirement income as lifestyle profiles make changes to your investments based on your selected retirement date. As a result, they may only be suitable if you re planning to start taking your retirement income at your selected retirement date. If you aren t sure how and when you should take your retirement income, or whether a lifestyle profile is suitable for you, you should speak to a financial adviser. You can only invest in one lifestyle profile at a time. Please read the How to choose the right investment options for your pension (GPEN4) for more information. 4.3 What might I get when I want to retire? Your final plan value will depend on: how much is paid in how long the payments are invested for any transfer payments paid in how long a transfer payment is invested for the performance of the fund(s) our charges (see What are the charges and discounts? on page 10) any charges or fees taken for financial advice. Your final plan value can be used to buy a pension, which is an income for the rest of your life, from us, another pension provider or a registered pension scheme. The pension amount will depend on a number of factors at the time, for example: interest rates your age and state of health life expectancy rates the options you choose when buying your pension (for example, choosing a pension that increases in payment each year, or including a pension for a dependant when you die). 08/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

9 What choices might I have when I retire? A fixed regular income (annuity) that is guaranteed for life. This locks you into the choices you make at that time and the monthly or annual annuity payments will be taxed as income. A flexible income. This is done by income drawdown and allows you to either withdraw regular income payable monthly or yearly or take unlimited withdrawals. All withdrawals are treated as taxable UK income. You can change your choices at any time as your needs become clearer. Cash. You can now take your full retirement savings as cash. 25% is tax free but anything over this is taxed as regular UK income. You can also have a combination of the above. With each of these options, you can normally have 25% of the benefits tax free. Not all of these retirement options are available under this product. You can easily access these new options by transferring to another product that allows them. If you choose a flexible income option, it s important to remember that your money stays invested, so its value can go up and down. You may get less back than you paid in. And, if you take it all out as cash, you need to think about the tax you ll pay. 4.4 What about tax? We give a short explanation about tax below. For more information, please read Information about tax relief, limits and your pension (GEN658). You can find this at taxandpensions, or phone us for a paper copy. Tax relief on payments to your plan You ll get basic rate tax relief on any regular and single payments that you make. We ll claim this tax relief for you from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and invest it in your plan. If you are a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you ll need to claim the extra tax relief by contacting HMRC. If you give up salary in return for a payment from your employer to your plan, you don t get tax relief on that payment. But you do save tax on the salary you give up. HM Revenue & Customs has an Annual Allowance for the total payments that you, your employer and any third party can make to all your pension plans (excluding transfer payments). Group Flexible Retirement Plan 09/24

10 You may have to pay a tax charge on any payments that exceed this limit. If the total payments to all your plans are less than the limit in one tax year, you may be able to carry forward the unused allowance for up to three tax years. The funds you invest in are not liable for UK Capital Gains Tax. Tax treatment when taking your benefits You can normally take some of your fund as a tax free lump sum before you convert the plan into a pension. HM Revenue & Customs has a Lifetime Allowance on the total funds in pension plans that can be used to provide benefits for you. There are circumstances where you may have a personal Lifetime Allowance that s higher. Your beneficiaries won t normally have to pay tax on any lump sum they receive if you die before retirement. For more information, please read Information about tax relief, limits and your pension (GEN658). Your pension will be taxed in the same way as earned income. Laws and tax rules may change in the future. The information here is based on our understanding in July Your personal circumstances also have an impact on tax treatment. 4.5 What are the charges and discounts? Standard Life takes a fund management charge which is for the management of your funds and for our administration costs. The charge varies depending on the funds you choose to invest in and is taken from the fund each day before we calculate the unit price. The current yearly rate of this charge is shown on your illustration. Additional expenses may be deducted from some funds. They include items such as custodian, third party administration, trustee, registrar, auditor and regulator fees. Where a fund invests in other underlying funds, they may also include the underlying management charges. As the additional expenses relate to expenses incurred during the fund management process, they will regularly increase and decrease as a percentage of the fund, sometimes significantly. The additional expenses figure shown is the annual rate of the charge. But where additional expenses apply, they are taken into account when the fund s unit price is calculated each day. 10/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

11 If a performance fee applies to a fund, it is included in the additional expenses figure retrospectively. Your illustration shows what you might get back in the future. It details our charges and the effect they have on reducing the value of your investments over the term of your plan. Standard Life has the right to delay any investment to a fund managed by an external manager. If you make regular payments and stop early on and do not restart them, our charges could reduce your plan value by the time you retire. We may make discretionary adjustments to reflect costs incurred in managing a fund. For example, if the fund manager experiences a significant number of investors leaving the fund and needs to apply an adjustment to reflect the costs of selling assets. Your plan may also benefit from a discount. Any such discount will depend on the size of the fund and the terms that apply to your plan, and will be created by giving you extra units in your funds. If you ve asked for your own personal illustration, this will give details of any discounts that may apply. You ll find full details of the terms in your plan documents which we ll send after you join. If you have been automatically enrolled into the plan and do not make an investment decision yourself, payments will be invested in fund(s) or a lifestyle profile chosen by your employer. The Government has introduced new charges measures for schemes used for automatic enrolment and the charge you pay for being invested in the fund(s) or lifestyle profile chosen by your employer cannot exceed 0.75% per year after scheme discount has been applied. If you are invested in the fund(s) or lifestyle profile chosen by your employer and your charge exceeds the 0.75% charge cap, extra units will be created in your funds to ensure that the effect of the charges meets the charges requirements. The effect of adding the extra units are not reflected in your illustrations since the payment of any extra units will vary throughout the term of the plan. This variation in any extra units payable occurs because the additional expenses on funds are likely to increase and decrease regularly, sometimes by a significant amount, and also, for investment in a lifestyle profile, the fund charges applied also vary as the investment moves between funds within the profile. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 11/24

12 This section only applies to group schemes that pay their adviser commission. Please check your illustration to find out what type of payments apply to your employer s group scheme. If there is no reference to commission in your illustration, please speak to your employer to find out if any such payments apply. We will not normally make a charge for switching funds. However, we reserve the right to charge if a switch involves an externally managed fund and the manager charges us for the switch. For further information about fund charges, please speak to your adviser or see the guide How to choose the right investment options for your pension 4.6 How do I pay for advice or other charges? From 31 December 2012 the Financial Conduct Authority has changed the way financial advisers can be paid for giving advice. This means the date your scheme was set up will affect the way you pay the adviser. You should be clear about how you are paying for any advice. Please refer to your illustration. It will tell you if, or how, we have been asked to pay an adviser. If there is no reference to paying an adviser in your illustration then please speak to your employer to find out if any such payments apply to your scheme. If so please refer to the relevant section below. If not, you can ignore this section and go straight to section 4.7 on page 16. For commission & adviser fees please read section on this page. For consultancy and adviser charges please read section on page Commission and fees Remuneration and other information We will invest all of your payments. However, we may need to make deductions to take account of the commission your adviser is taking. Please refer to your illustration for more information on the commission charges applicable to your scheme. If there is no reference to commission in your illustration, please speak to your employer to find out if any such payments apply. The following types of remuneration can be taken by your adviser for transfer, single and regular payments. All commission charges and fees are taken by cancelling units in your funds. 12/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

13 Regular Payments If your adviser takes Level Commission, we will take a charge of 0.1% for each 0.1% of commission we pay, up to a maximum of 5% of the total payment. This charge is known as an Initial Charge. If your adviser took Initial Commission, we take a charge equal to the commission in 12 monthly instalments. This charge is known as an Additional Charge and cannot exceed 50% of the first year s expected regular payments. Level Commission and Initial Commission was withdrawn as an option at the end of Transfer and Single Payments If your adviser takes Initial Commission, we will take a charge of 0.1% for each 0.1% of commission we pay, up to a maximum of 8% of the total payment. This charge is known as an Initial Charge. If your adviser took Funded Initial Commission, we take a charge at a yearly rate of 0.2% for every 1% of commission we paid up to a maximum of 5% commission of the total payment. We collect the charge monthly and it s a percentage of the current value of the payment at that time. For each payment that this charge applies to, the charge will only apply for six years from the date the payment was made. This charge is known as an Additional Charge. Funded Initial Commission was withdrawn as an option at the end of Transfer, Single and Regular Payments Your adviser may take Fund Based Renewal Commission. If so, we will take a charge at a yearly rate of 0.01% which will be deducted from your plan for every 0.01% of commission we pay, up to a maximum of 1.5%. The commission and charges are based on the current value of your plan at that time. This charge is known as a Regular Charge. A Transfer Charge also applies if you transfer out, or buy a pension with, any part of your plan that is subject to an additional charge (for Initial Commission) during the 12 month charge period or (for Funded Initial Commission) during the 6 year charge period. Your illustration shows what charges may apply and the effect they could have on reducing the value of your investment(s) over time. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 13/24

14 This section only applies to group schemes that pay their adviser consultancy and/or adviser charges. Please check your illustration to find out what type of payments apply to your employer s group scheme. If there is no reference to charges in your illustration, please speak to your employer to find out if any such payments apply. Adviser Fees If the scheme has been set up before 31 December 2012 (or the documents to set up the scheme have been received before that date), your employer may have agreed that the adviser will receive a Yearly Adviser Fee from the Group Flexible Retirement Plan. In that case it s a condition of you joining the Group Flexible Retirement Plan that you pay this fee, which is the same for all employees. It is charged to cover the scheme administration and ongoing advice provided by the adviser. The fee will be collected in arrears and deducted from the plan once a year by cancelling units held for you in investmentlinked pension funds. The first fee will be deducted on the next scheme fee schedule date that falls a year after joining. If a Yearly Adviser Fee applies, it s taken into account in your illustration. You must tell us if you leave your employer. If you don t, we will continue deducting the fee from your plan Consultancy and adviser charges What are consultancy charges? A consultancy charge is agreed by your employer with the scheme adviser for the advice and services they received for setting up and managing the scheme. This charge will be set, and you won t be able to change it. You must tell us if you leave your employer If you don t, we will continue deducting consultancy charges from your plan. If you decide to take additional individual advice either from your own financial adviser or from the scheme s adviser, you should agree any payments to that adviser directly with them. Consultancy charges The following consultancy charges are available on your Group Flexible Retirement Plan where your employer s scheme has been set up on or after 15 October 2012 but before 10 May If your employer s scheme has consultancy charges in place and the scheme becomes a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme (QWPS), these charges are no longer available as a feature and will be removed. 14/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

15 Initial consultancy charges on regular payments The adviser is paid a flat amount or a percentage of each regular payment. This can be paid either as a one-off payment or over an agreed period of time. Where the charge is a flat amount it can be paid monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. Initial consultancy charges on single and transfer payments The adviser is paid a flat amount or a percentage, which is taken from your plan when your payment is applied. Initial consultancy charges on bulk transfer payments The adviser is paid a flat amount or percentage of the payment, which is taken from your plan when your payment is applied. Ongoing consultancy charges The adviser is paid a flat amount or a percentage based on the plan value. It is deducted from your plan monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly and paid to the adviser. Where based on a percentage it is calculated on the value of the plan at the date the charge is due. Ad hoc consultancy charges The adviser is paid a flat amount or a percentage of the plan value which is deducted from the plan. Or, if the charge relates to a bulk single or transfer payment, it can be a percentage of the payment and deducted from the payment. Adviser charging If you re investing in a Group Flexible Retirement Plan, speak to your adviser and agree how you want to pay them. You can choose to pay them direct, with no involvement from us. Or when you complete the application form, you can instruct us to make payments on your behalf from your plan. If your adviser is being paid from your plan, your illustration will show the charge options you have selected. It will also show the effect they could have on reducing the value of your investment(s) over time. Please note that adviser charges are not available to you if your employer s scheme has been set up before 15 October 2012, or set up on or after that date on a commission paying basis. Once set up, the amount or percentage paid to the adviser can be changed or stopped by your employer at any time. We will notify you if this charge is changed. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 15/24

16 Adviser charges we offer The following adviser charges are available on our Group Flexible Retirement Plans. Initial adviser charge on regular payments This charge is no longer available from 30th January Your adviser is paid a flat monetary amount, either as a one-off payment or spread over a period of time that has been agreed by you both. It is paid monthly, quarterly, halfyearly or yearly. This charge can only be selected when you start regular payments. Initial adviser charge on single and transfer payments Your adviser is paid a flat amount or a percentage, deducted from the payment after it s invested. Ongoing adviser charge This charge is no longer available from 30th January Your adviser is paid a flat amount or a percentage based on the plan value. It is deducted from your plan monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly and paid to your adviser. Where based on a percentage it is calculated on the value of the plan at the date the charge is due. This charge can also be set up at any point after your plan has started. Once set up, the amount or percentage paid to your adviser can be changed or stopped at any time. Ad hoc adviser charge This payment to your adviser can be a flat monetary payment or a percentage of your plan value. The charge is deducted when we pay your adviser. For more detailed information on the adviser charges please see our Adviser Charges Terms and Conditions (PENAC62). 4.7 Other important questions What happens to the plan if I die before I retire? We will pay out your pension pot to your beneficiaries inheritance tax-free. If you die before age 75, this will normally be tax-free If you die after age 75, this will normally be taxed as income You can tell us about the people and causes you care about by filling in our Instruction for payment of death benefits form (PPP36). 16/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

17 What if I leave my current employer? If you decide to leave your employer then you will still retain your existing contract, although the terms applied to your plan may differ. The terms that can apply will have been decided when the scheme was set up by your employer. Please contact your employer or financial adviser for more information. If you leave your current employer, you will remain invested in the plan and you can continue making payments into it. However, any payments made by your employer will stop. You can transfer it to another pension plan (either with Standard Life or another provider) or registered pension scheme at any time before you start taking a pension. Can I transfer my plan? You can transfer your plan to another pension arrangement with us, another pension provider or registered pension scheme at any time before you start taking your pension. We make no penalty charge. Your illustration gives examples of how much you could transfer to another plan depending on when you transfer. You cannot cash in your plan. A charge applies if you transfer out, or buy a pension with, any part of your plan that is subject to an Additional Charge during the charge period. For Funded Initial Commission the charge period is six years and for Regular Initial Commission the charge period is 12 months. This only applies to schemes that pay commission for advice received. See How do I pay for advice or other charges? on page 12 for more information. Can I cancel? Yes but there is a time limit to do this. If your Group Flexible Retirement Plan counts as a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme, you have opt out rights for the regular payments, otherwise you have cancellation rights. We will tell you what rights you have when we issue your plan documents. How do opt out rights work? You have one month to decide if you want to remain a member. When you become a member of the company pension, Standard Life will contact you to confirm your membership and plan number. They ll also send you information about accessing Employeezone, which you can use to manage your pension online. Your employer will confirm how you can opt out. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 17/24

18 This will either be direct with Standard Life through Employeezone (or over the phone on ), or using another method that your employer will tell you about. At the end of the one month period you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the plan and any regular payments received by Standard Life will not be refundable. If you make a single payment or transfer payment, opt out rights will not apply to these payments but cancellation rights might apply instead. See below for further information on cancellation rights for single payments and transfer payments. How do cancellation rights work? You have a legal right to cancel your contract if you change your mind. You have a 30 day period to consider if you want to change your mind. This 30 day period starts from the date you receive your plan documents. During this period, if you decide you want to cancel, you can call us on or you should write to us at the address below, instructing us to cancel the contract. Please make sure that you include your plan number in any correspondence with us. Standard Life Dundas House 20 Brandon Street EDINBURGH EH3 5PP At the end of the 30 day period you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the plan and any money received by Standard Life will not be refundable under the cancellation rule. Single Payments If you start the plan with a single payment and cancel during the 30 day period, the amount we return may be less than you paid in. This is because we may make a deduction to reflect any loss we have experienced between the date we received your payment and the date we received your instruction to cancel. The amount we will return may be subject to the following: If the value of your investment falls before we receive your instruction to cancel, we may deduct an equivalent amount from the refund. 18/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

19 Any charges or expenses we are unable to recover for the administration costs of setting up your plan. Any charges or expenses we are unable to recover for the administration costs of cancelling your plan. There is no penalty charge for cancelling your plan. If you decide to cancel, and we have already received payment, we will refund the payment to the person who made it. Transfer Payments If you cancel during the 30 day period the transfer payment is normally returned to the transferring scheme. The amount we return may be less than paid in. This is because we may make a deduction to reflect any loss we have experienced between the date we received your payment and the date we received your instruction to cancel. The amount we will return may be subject to the following: Any charges or expenses we are unable to recover for the administration costs of cancelling your plan. There is no penalty charge for cancelling your plan. If you decide to cancel and we have already received the payment, you must ask the transferring scheme to confirm that they will accept the payment back and we will then return it to them. If they will not accept it back, you must arrange for another pension provider to accept the payment. How will I know how my plan is doing? We will register you for our online services so that you can check your plan details online. We will issue you a yearly statement to show how your plan is doing. You can also get an up to date valuation at any time online, or by calling our customer helpline. If the value of your investment falls before we receive your instruction to cancel, we may deduct an equivalent amount from the refund. Any charges or expenses we are unable to recover for the administration costs of setting up your plan. Group Flexible Retirement Plan 19/24

20 5. Other information How to complain We have a leaflet that summarises our complaint handling procedures. If you d like a copy, please ask us. If you ever need to complain, please phone us on (call charges will vary). If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to complain to: The Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower London, E14 9SR Tel: Switchboard: Fax: complaint.info@ financial ombudsman.org.uk Website: ombudsman.org.uk Complaining to the Ombudsman won t affect your legal rights. Terms and conditions This document gives a summary of Standard Life s Group Flexible Retirement Plan. It does not include all the definitions, exclusions, terms and conditions. These can be found in the Terms and Conditions booklet. If you would like a copy of the Terms and Conditions, please ask your adviser or contact us direct. We have the right to change some of the terms and conditions. We will write to you and explain if this happens. Law The law of Scotland will decide any legal dispute. Language The English language will be used in all documents and future correspondence. Compensation The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, has been set up to provide protection to consumers if authorised financial services firms are unable, or likely to be unable, to meet claims against them. Your plan is classed as a long term contract of insurance. You will be eligible for compensation under the FSCS if Standard Life Assurance Limited (SLAL) becomes unable to meet its claims and the cover is 100% of the value of your claim. If you choose one of our funds that invests in a mutual fund run by another firm (including Standard Life Investments Limited), you are not eligible for any compensation under the FSCS if that firm is unable to meet its claims. 20/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

21 SLAL is not eligible to make a claim on your behalf so the price of a unit in our fund will depend on the amount that we recover from the firm. If you choose one of our funds that invests in a fund run by another insurer you are not eligible for any compensation under the FSCS if that insurer is unable to meets its claims. SLAL is not eligible to make a claim on your behalf. For further information on the compensation available under the FSCS please check their website or call the FSCS on Please note only compensation queries should be directed to the FSCS. If you have any questions, you can speak to your financial adviser or contact us directly. You can also find more information at co.uk/investor protection 6. How to contact us Remember your financial adviser will normally be your first point of contact. If you would like more information or to make changes to your plan, or if you have any questions, visit our website or call us on: Please have your plan number ready when calling. Calls may be monitored and/or recorded to protect both you and us, and may help with our training. Call charges will vary. You can also write to us at the address below: Standard Life Dundas House 20 Brandon Street EDINBURGH EH3 5PP 7. About Standard Life Standard Life Assurance Limited s product range includes pensions and investments. Standard Life Assurance Limited is on the Financial Services Register. The registration number is Group Flexible Retirement Plan 21/24

22 Please note If you are being automatically enrolled into the plan by your employer or making a transfer payment after having already joined, section 8 does not apply. We will include a copy of the declaration made by your employer in the plan documents we send you. 8. Terms and conditions for joining Important information. Please read and keep for your reference When you join the pension plan, you will be bound by the rules and legislation that apply to the plan. You should read this carefully before you decide to join. Your eligibility To join this pension plan, you will be confirming (via your employer or their adviser): You are aged 16 or over and are resident in the UK for tax purposes. Data Protection Notice important, please read We will collect personal information about you in order to consider your application and, if your application is successful, to provide our services to you and manage our relationship and Standard Life s business and services. If your application does not proceed, the information may be held on our records for up to seven years before it is deleted. The information collected may be disclosed to other Standard Life group companies, to professional advisers, to third party service providers and, where appropriate and lawful to do so, to other organisations. Your information may be held or disclosed in countries outside the European Economic Area which may not have the same standard of data protection laws. Where this occurs, we will take appropriate steps to adequately protect it. We may disclose information about you/your plan to the adviser for the scheme. If you are an employee and your employer is making payments to your plan, we may disclose information to them about the payments they have made. We and the other subsidiaries of Standard Life plc would like to contact you from time to time to keep you up to date with special offers, new products and services, newsletters and other promotions. We will never pass your details to companies that are not subsidiaries of Standard Life plc for marketing purposes. Please contact us if you do not wish to be contacted for marketing purposes. 22/24 Group Flexible Retirement Plan

23 If you would like to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, please write to the Data Protection Co ordinator at our Head Office. We may charge a fee for providing the information. Money Laundering To comply with Money Laundering Regulations, we may verify your identity by carrying out an online check with a reference agency. Where an online check is carried out, the agency will verify your identity against public records and it will also check whether you have a credit history (but it will not disclose any information about your actual borrowings). The agency will add a note to show that an identity check was made to your credit file, but this information will not be available to any third parties. We regret that we cannot offer an alternative unless the online check does not confirm your identity, in which case we will carry out a manual check. Your declaration You will also be making this declaration (via your employer or their adviser): 1. I request that the benefits described in or arising from payments specified in the Application be provided for me under the Standard Life Self Invested Personal Pension Scheme and in consideration of its acceptance I undertake to be bound in all respects by the rules of the Scheme in force from time to time. 2. I declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the statements made in my Application are correct and complete. 3. I declare that the total payments to any registered pension scheme, in respect of which I am entitled to relief under section 188 of the Finance Act 2004, will not exceed the higher of the basic amount or my relevant UK earnings, within the meaning of section 189 of that Act, for that tax year. (The basic amount for the 2015/2016 tax year is 3,600 gross. This may change in future tax years.) Group Flexible Retirement Plan 23/24

24 4. I declare that I will tell Standard Life if an event occurs as a result of which I will no longer be entitled to relief for my contributions under section 188 of the Finance Act I will do so before the end of the tax year in which the event occurs, or within 30 days of the event if this is later. 5. I have read and understood the Data Protection Notice. I agree that my personal information (including sensitive data) may be used for the purposes described (subject to me exercising my right not to be contacted with details of other products and services). 6. I authorise Standard Life to disclose to the person within my business who is the contact name for enquiries/ my employer if requested, information relating to my plan. If you do not wish this person to have access to this information, then please write to us at: Standard Life Assurance Limited, Dundas House, 20 Brandon Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5PP. 7. I understand that, where I am receiving advice from an adviser, the adviser is acting on my behalf. 8. If I am self employed and my payments are being paid from a partnership account, I confirm that I will reimburse the partnership for the amount concerned. Standard Life Assurance Limited is registered in Scotland (SC286833) at Standard Life House, 30 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH1 2DH. Standard Life Assurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. FRP Standard Life 24/24